Tiburon dentist leads face surgery program for children in China

It conveys a feeling of pleasure, of happiness, of amusement, of care.

It's instinctive and impulsive and communicates light without words.

It is a smile.

For such a natural impulse, smiles that are broken are startlingly common. Dr. Colin Wong of Tiburon helps fix them.

Wong, who practiced dentistry in Mill Valley for 35 years, has been volunteering in his retirement for Alliance for Smiles. The organization, founded in San Francisco in 2004, helps impoverished children get surgery for cleft palates and lips.

The conditions leave fissures or holes on the roof of the mouth, the upper lip or the nostrils. These deformities make it difficult for children to eat, speak, and of course, smile.

The conditions occur in about 1 of 350 Asian births, and in about 1 of 850 American births. Wong has been the director of Alliance for Smiles' program in China for the past nine years.

Wong was born in China, raised in Hong Kong and went to dental school at the University of California at Berkeley.

"I always liked to work with my hands and to relieve people of pain and suffering, and make their appearance look good," Wong said.

Wong organizes two-week missions to cities in China, where volunteers perform operations. The China Population Welfare Foundation organizes several hundred children to be examined by the medical professionals on the trip, and by the end of the first week, the group selects around 100 children for treatment.

"The second week is intensive surgery — a 5:30 a.m. wakeup, 6 a.m. breakfast, rounds by 7:15 a.m., and surgery from 8 a.m. to whenever the team is done for the day, typically around 5 to 6 p.m.," Wong said.

On the last day of the mission, all of the children receive a final check from the doctors to assure the surgery has no negative effects.

One of Wong's most memorable moments on a mission came trip to the city of Wenzhou.

"During the second week, everything is on schedule, and an older couple around 50 or 60 years old comes in and asks us to take care of this young child around 8 months old with a cleft palate, and we had to ask them to leave because we were full," Wong said. "When I came outside to ask them to leave, they kneeled down and begged for me to take care of the child, and when someone gets down on their knees and begs, it's hard to refuse."

The parents began to tell Wong that they were migrant workers who lived in a makeshift hut near town, and made a living selling clothing and other items. One day, while searching for food in a garbage can, they felt a bundle moving and found an abandoned child.

"I asked them, 'Why are you still taking care of this child?' They said it was a gift from God and they did not want to give the child up," Wong said. "So, after I heard this story, I went to tell the team, and they were so touched by this story, we collected 2,000 yuan for this family."

In the city of Wenzhou, 5 yuan can buy enough bread for two people for one day.

"The family refused it at first. When we told them it was for the baby, they reluctantly accepted it," Wong said.

Alliance for Smiles also aims to provide assistance beyond surgery through treatment centers for patients to receive ongoing care with the same treatment protocols used in the United States, and to train local health care providers in the treatment of cleft lips and palates.

Wong is responsible for communicating with the mayors and hospitals in mission towns to determine if the town is ready for a treatment center.

"The continuity of what he's doing is important because it makes people recognize him as a main part of the organization," said Anita Stangl, president of Alliance for Smiles. "We're a small organization, we depend a great deal on our volunteers to fulfill certain responsibilities, otherwise we wouldn't be able to do what we do."

To honor the work of Alliance for Smiles, the Episcopal Church of Our Savior in Mill Valley is planning a benefit performance of Brahms, Rachmaninov and others. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 19, at the church at 10 Old Mill St.